


a swelling rage (they sure as hell set the stage)

by WishingTree



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/F, Gen, get rekt champ please just leave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 07:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7258195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingTree/pseuds/WishingTree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of the two of them, Nicole had always assumed Waverly to be the rash one, the one who went charging off to fight people in fits of anger, and for herself to be calm, patient and even-tempered. But apparently, Nicole might have to rethink that.</p><p>aka 5 times nicole haught wanted to fight something (and 1 more time she punched champ hardy right in the face)<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	a swelling rage (they sure as hell set the stage)

**Author's Note:**

> inspired of a combination of nicole’s fantastic glare in the last episode and a post about wanting to fight the earp’s for their piss poor treatment of waverly when she was a kid

Nicole idly tapped her pen against the Earp homestead kitchen table as she stared at the paperwork in front of her, trying to decide if this was actually hers or if Wynonna had slipped her share into Nicole’s pile again. Wynonna consistently tried to avoid doing her own, but usually wasn’t very subtle about passing it off, and the fact that Nicole hadn’t noticed anything amiss yet was throwing her off.

She was distracted from her deliberation when the constant static that had been filling the room for the last couple minutes abruptly turned into music, and Nicole looked up to see Waverly give a small cheer.

Wynonna was sitting on the other end of the kitchen table, looking bored as she leaned back on her hands while Waverly fiddled with the old radio next to her. The sound of the only station to reach Purgatory now filled the room, a cheerful song Nicole hadn’t heard in years, and Nicole grinned at Waverly’s pleased expression. Wynonna perked up in recognition as Waverly got the radio signal to stabilize and flapped her hand toward her sister eagerly.

“Oh my god, it’s the song you used for your dance routine from when you were a kid!”

“Oh yeah! You still remember it?” Waverly asked in wonder, reaching to turn the volume of the radio a little bit higher.

Wynonna scoffed, “Please, that dance routine is burned into my mind, do you know how many times you made me run through it with you?”

Waverly giggled again, shaking her head. “I was like 8 years old! And can you really blame me, Gus and Curtis weren’t about to practice with me.” She ducked under the piece of muffin Wynonna tossed at her, rolling her eyes. “You’re kidding though, right? It was such a long time ago, you can’t actually still remember my silly little dance.”

Wynonna raised an eyebrow in challenge and stuffed the last bit of the muffin into her mouth, squinting as she focused on the song, and Nicole put her pen down. She knew she wouldn’t be getting any paperwork done now even if she wanted to, and reached out to take a muffin instead. Once the Earp sisters got into it, her productivity flew out the window, generally due to either the infectious quality of their ridiculous shenanigans, or an ingrained sense of self-preservation that told her to pay attention lest she get pulled in as collateral damage.

“Hah! It was twirl, jump, left foot, swing-y hands,  _pah_!” Wynonna pantomimed the movements exaggeratedly without moving from where she was perched on the table, and Waverly laughed, pointing at her excitedly.

“That’s right! Oh, I was so proud of that dance.”

“I know,” Wynonna said, grinning crookedly and ruffling Waverly’s hair. She rested her hands back on the edge of the table and swung her legs. “I remember sneaking out of – what was it, foster home number five?”

Waverly’s brow creased as she thought, absentmindedly ticking off her fingers as she mouthed some words. “It was… 3rd grade, I wanted to show Shelly Conroy I wasn’t a loser, remember? So you were… 14?”

Wynonna nodded as she followed along. “Yeah, that’s right. So that makes it foster home number four, then. I think.”

“You always came to help me practice.”

“Please, you think I was going to let you be shown up by _Shelly Conroy_? Psh, you were always better than that, and some flimsy iron bars weren’t about to stop me.”

Nicole’s mouth fell open, and she watched them incredulously, a growing sense of disbelief as they casually discussed the state of Wynonna’s fourth – _fourth_? – foster home.

She’d known that Wynonna had been in and out of the foster system and juvie when she was younger, but she’d never given much thought at exactly how shitty the situation had been. Getting to the point where one had to sneak out at the age of 14 just to visit her own baby sister, lonely and wanting someone to practice a dance routine with? The more she thought about it, the more indignant she became.

Waverly was now standing and coaxing Wynonna to her feet as well, holding her hands and pulling her to the middle of the room with a broad smile as she ignored her protests.

“Come on sis, show me what you got!”

Nicole watched as Wynonna dropped her head and groaned dramatically, but she didn’t fight her, not hiding her affectionate smile.

It was a silly little dance with lots of spinning and flailing hands that lead to Waverly and Wynonna each balancing on their left foot as they hopped in a circle, and Nicole felt her burgeoning anger melt away at what was one of the most precious sights she’d ever seen. Neither noticed that the song was long over, and Nicole turned down the radio, now blaring some commercial nobody had any interest in.

The sound of the Earp sisters singing the song themselves grew louder as they became more enthusiastic, Wynonna significantly more off-key than Waverly. Nicole felt herself loosening up as laughter filled the kitchen, watching the scene with her chin in her hand.

“Ready for this Waves? This was the part you would always screw up.”

“Hey, no fair! You have super-reflexes from being the Heir, you’d never be able to do that flip on your own!”

“Wanna bet, short stack?”

They kept bickering good-naturedly, and Nicole clapped, cheering them both on. Dolls picked that exact moment to reenter the Earp homestead, arms laden with takeout containers, and he stopped short at the entrance of the room. The look on his face was incredulous enough to banish the rest of Nicole’s ire, and when Waverly and Wynonna burst into laughter, and Nicole couldn’t help but join them. 

 

* * *

 

“Wait, _how_ many times did you get sent to juvie?” Nicole turned to face Wynonna, distantly hoping her face didn’t look as horrified as she felt.

Wynonna shrugged, crossing her arms and propping her boots up on the desk as she balanced her chair on the back two legs. “Eh, corrupt judge, you know how it is. Busted system and all that. Didn’t have a choice for most of it.”

Nicole tried not to gape at her, unnerved by the resigned acceptance for things long passed, and she tried to equate Wynonna’s childhood with her own. Nicole had a huge family, a family that had loved her unconditionally, who had cared and supported her and all of her siblings.

“What the fuck." Nicole blinked, jaw working as she tried to think of something to say to Wynonna that she hadn’t heard before, but she came up blank.

Wynonna was looking at her strangely, like she expected Nicole to just be okay with what she had told her, like this was all _normal_. Like it was perfectly acceptable for children to be taken advantage of like that, to leave them defenseless in a system where everything was stacked against them.

“No, Wynonna, _what the fuck_."

Before Wynonna could do anything more than shrug again and make a face at her, the door banged open and Waverly stuck her head inside. “Guys, come on, Dolls found where they’re hiding, it’s time to move!” Her frantic tone of voice spurned them into action, but Nicole was still perturbed.

“If it makes you feel better, my probation officer was murdered by a pretty nasty revenant?" Wynonna’s face was twisted unsurely as she grabbed her gun belt and strapped it around her waist, hurriedly adjusted the holster on her hip as they were ushered out of the room. “The man in the mirror, the wannabe demon barber from a while back, remember him?”

Nicole shot her a troubled look. “I don’t think that’s the kind of thing that should be bringing any of us comfort.”

“Well,” Wynonna shifted uncomfortably, “Let’s just… go shoot some bad guys. That’ll make us feel better.”

Nicole squeezed her shoulder and made a mental note to see if Wynonna wanted to talk about any of this the next time they got drunk, before they split up to get into the SUV Dolls had waiting for them outside.

 

* * *

 

It had been exactly three weeks since Nicole had started working with the Black Badge division, or, as Wynonna had declared, joined Team Earp. She fit in seamlessly, but the more time she spent with Waverly and Wynonna, the more things she heard that made her _angry_.

She propped her elbows on her desk and laced her fingers together, slowly leaning forward so her chin was pressed against them. Staying very still, she focused intensely on the blank wall across from her, not reacting when Sheriff Nedley hesitantly stopped at her desk.

“Now, I’m not generally one to involve myself, but is there a reason you’re looking at the wall like it’s personally offended you and everyone you care about?” He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, and Nicole wondered distantly how strange she must be acting for him to come and check on her.

“Sir, would you consider me an aggressive person? Rash, confrontational?" 

Sheriff Nedley exhaled reluctantly, tilting his head in a way that clearly conveyed his desire to go back to ignoring whatever had his deputy glaring so hard. “No, I’d say that you’ve always struck me as a very level-headed type of person. Calm… stable… you know…” he waved a hand, regretting his decision to get involved.

Nicole gave a decisive nod at his words, keeping her fingers together and hearing how her words were being slightly muffled by her hands.

“Because, I never would have called myself an aggressive person,” Nicole said speculatively, “Except right now, all I want in this world is to _hit_ something."

She was halfway considering punching a wall out of sheer frustration, but she knew that was a bad idea on all levels.

“Maybe… maybe try to work that out on a punching bag? See if it helps?” Nedley twisted his hand in front of him, and Nicole exhaled through her nose.

 

* * *

 

“Aww,” Nicole cooed as she examined the picture. “You have the same smile, it’s so cute!” She grinned teasingly at Waverly, holding the picture up next to her face. 3-year-old Waverly beamed back through the old photograph, sitting on the floor of what Nicole recognized to be the Earp’s barn. Her long hair was in a tangle around her face as she posed next to a plate of misshapen cookies, laughing with whoever was behind the camera.

Waverly scoffed and pushed Nicole’s arm away, plucking the picture from her fingers. Nicole giggled, pressing closer and smiling softly when Waverly snuggled into her side without reservation.

“Wynonna took this picture, see? You can always tell because she didn’t figure out how to hold the camera straight for the longest time.” She passed it back to Nicole and picked the box up off the coffee table.

“Well, you’re adorable,” Nicole told her empathetically, settling back against the couch with her arm around Waverly’s shoulders. Waverly slouched against her comfortably, balancing the box of photos on her lap and rifling through them. As she occupied herself, Nicole went back to examining the picture in her hand.

However, as she got a closer look at it, her smile faded, replaced with a confused frown. “Were you… it’s your birthday?” Nicole pointed at the little party hat tied around baby Waverly’s wrist. “What’s the deal with the cookies?”

“Hm?” Waverly leaned back, head lolling on Nicole’s shoulder. “Oh, that was all Wynonna could make on her own. Daddy was probably drunk.” Waverly didn’t look up, and Nicole fell silent, frowning harder as she turned the words over in her head.

“Your nine-year-old sister made you birthday cookies, on her own, because your dad was drunk?” she asked carefully.

Waverly shrugged, her body stiffening minutely from its previous relaxed state and her hands now playing along the edges of the box. “Trust me, it was the farthest thing from unusual. I don’t – my dad never remembered my birthday. Don't know what my mom was up to that year either.”

“What kind of shitty – ” Nicole cut herself off and frowned at the top of Waverly’s head, then glared at the picture in her hand. She figured by now she should stop being surprised at stories of Ward Earp’s terrible parenting skills, but every time Waverly brought up something like this her blood would start to boil all over again. It would probably be improper to announce that she wanted to fight her girlfriend’s dead father, for a multitude of reasons, so instead she dropped the picture onto the coffee table and wrapped both arms around Waverly. She hugged her closer and tucked her head against the back of her neck, watching carefully to makes sure she wasn’t crowding her or making her more uncomfortable.

Waverly didn’t hesitate to cuddle up to her, and Nicole calmed herself, focusing on Waverly’s warmth instead of the tightness in her chest. She pressed a kiss to Waverly’s temple, petting her hair and resting her head against hers.

“You didn’t deserve this. I’m sorry, but your family was awful, and I wish I could… I wish you’d had better.”

Waverly looked up at her, and then twisted around in her arms to hug her properly. Surprised, Nicole slung her arms around Waverly’s waist in return.

“Thank you,” Waverly said quietly into the crook of her neck, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone who wasn’t Wynonna say that."

"I mean, we already knew you've spent your whole life surrounded by idiots, but I guess it's nice to have some more proof," Nicole murmured into her hair. Waverly pressed her face into Nicole's neck in response, making no move to sit up, and Nicole was happy to hold her.

 

* * *

 

Waverly and Wynonna walked into the Sheriff’s station, but this time Wynonna was practically holding Waverly up, a hand tight around her waist with Waverly’s arm thrown over her shoulders. Waverly had her eyes closed, her feet dragging in exhaustion as she leaned against Wynonna, and Nicole’s heart jumped into her throat.

Moving on instinct, Nicole was up out of her seat and moving around the front desk without realizing it, trying to tamp down on the panic brought on by the sight in font of her.

“What happened?” she asked, eyes roving them frantically. Both were fairly grimy, not an uncommon occurrence when they left to fight demons, but Waverly was notably dirtier than Wynonna was, dust smeared all over her face and clothes.

She felt a sudden flash of anger, lingering behind all of her worry and fear, anger at anyone who would dare hurt Waverly, but she purposefully ignored it.

Wynonna smiled tiredly at her, meeting her panicked eyes and trying to reassure her. “It’s okay, we’re both fine. We only look like mole people because we had to crawl through this really nasty hole in a wall and then hide in this dusty old barn. Hey Waves, wake up, say hello to Nicole before she has a conniption.” She gently shook Waverly’s hip, urging her to lift her head off her shoulder.

Waverly groaned a little but did as she was told, cracking her eyes open to look at Nicole through her hanging strands of hair, the remains of her braid fluttering around her face. “Oh,” she brightened as soon as she saw Nicole, reaching out for her, and Nicole’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Hi! It’s so good to see you, wait until you hear what we did.”

“Why don’t we save the story until after we’ve cleaned up and you’ve had a nap? I think you’re about to fall asleep on your feet, and I am not carrying you back to the car.”

Waverly pouted for a moment but nodded in acceptance, and Nicole didn’t stop herself from reaching out and gently cupping Waverly’s face, brushing her thumbs across her cheeks. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, smiling in relief and glancing at Wynonna, “You too, Wynonna.”

Wynonna gave her a quick smile and a grateful thumbs up, readying herself to get Waverly moving again, but Waverly lit up and gasped. “Wait, one thing! I gotta say one thing, I found a flamethrower! Like a real flamethrower, you shoulda seen it! Best day ever.” She gripped Nicole’s forearms and smiled up at her, eyes shining. “Almost burned down the barn we were in, but it’s fine. I’m pretty sure I singed Bobo’s ugly-ass coat too, the look on his face was amazing.”

Nicole smiled at Waverly’s delight at finally getting her hands on the incendiary device, but then realized that if Bobo Del Ray was involved, then the Earp sisters had most definitely been fighting for their lives not long before. She narrowed her eyes dangerously, hands still on Waverly’s cheeks. “… I’m gonna kill him.”

“Get in line, Haughtshot,” Wynonna laughed, “I already called dibs.”

Waverly yawned, letting her eyes fall closed as she leaned into Nicole, and Nicole realized she had one hand fisted against the material of her uniform shirt. “Can I give you guys a ride back to the Homestead?”

 

* * *

 

Waverly sighed as she entered the Black Badge offices, dropping her bag on the table and shuffling over to the nearest chair. She’d just spent the last 20 minutes trying to shake Champ off in the public library without causing a scene, and she was definitely ready for the day to be over.

Ever since Nicole had punched him in front of the whole town at the party, Champ had become even more hostile, taking to muttering as many creative digs and insults he could come up with. Admittedly, there weren’t that many, but hearing herself get repeatedly badmouthed for the same thing was starting to get extremely irritating. He only did it when she was alone, never around Nicole or Wynonna or Dolls, and apparently his sole talent was catching her at times where societal norms dictated that she really couldn’t pull out her shotgun and start threatening him.

“What’s up with that frown, baby girl?” Wynonna entered the room behind her, followed closely by Dolls.

“Just… Champ,” she said flatly, knowing her expression conveyed exactly how done she was.

Wynonna grimaced. “Ah. What’s the crap pile done now?”

“Nothing new,” Waverly sighed heavily, letting her head fall back as Wynonna came to lean against the table next to her.

Dolls took off his jacket and draped it over the coatrack by the door, looking over his shoulder. “Anything I can arrest him for? Watching him sit in lock-up for a couple of hours would probably make you feel better.” He smiled when Waverly laughed, and she knew he meant it.

“Has that idiot ever done something another person actually appreciated?” Wynonna mused, pursing her lips.

“I mean, there was that time Nicole punched him,” Waverly offered.

“Yeah,” Wynonna sighed in satisfaction, “Wish I saw that, I can’t believe nobody took a picture for me! The very thought of it makes my soul happy.”

“Well, you’d think getting clobbered would get the message across.”

“Apparently not.” Waverly threw her hands up and let them dangle limply over the sides of the chair. “Not even getting it literally knocked into him is enough to get him to shut up.”

“What has he been saying to you?” Waverly turned in surprise to see Nicole standing in the doorway, her expression fierce and her hand gripping the doorknob tightly.

“Oh, uh,” Waverly laughed nervously, sitting up properly, “Just, you know, stupid stuff. Don’t worry about it, he isn’t worth it.”

Nicole frowned, “I though he’d stopped after… Are you okay?” She tilted her head in concern, but otherwise she still wasn’t moving, body as tense as Waverly had ever seen it outside of immediate danger.

“Of course, yeah.” Waverly got up and moved to stand in front of Nicole, lightly threading her fingers through her belt loops. “I’ve been dealing with him my whole life, I’m used to this.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be,” Nicole muttered crossly, but when Waverly stood up on her tiptoes she obligingly bent her head down to accept the kiss Waverly pressed to her lips.

“It doesn’t matter what Champ says,” Waverly whispered, pressing another quick kiss to Nicole’s cheek, satisfied when Nicole started to relax, her hand falling off of the doorknob and resting on her hip instead. Waverly pointedly ignored Wynonna’s teasing wolf-whistle and Dolls quietly reprimanding her with a quiet ‘shut it, Earp’, choosing instead to smile sweetly up at her girlfriend. “He’s run out of insults too, and there’s only so many places in town he can corner me in before he gets into real trouble.”

Nicole went very still, and her expression slowly darkened, turning into a murderous glare within a matter of seconds.

“I’m going to beat him into the _ground_ ,” she hissed, spinning around to throw open the door and storm away.

While Waverly and Dolls only blinked, a smirk spread across Wynonna’s face. “Alright!” She whooped and jumped to her feet, clapping her hands. “Now we’re talking.” She grabbed Peacemaker and hurried after Nicole, eyes gleaming wickedly.

Waverly stared at the swinging door. “Um, should we – ”

“We should probably – ” Dolls was already nodding, moving to grab his jacket and steering Waverly forward. They rushed out of the station, just catching the tail end of Nicole’s cruiser peeling onto the street.

Dolls pointed to his SUV, and Waverly wrenched the door open, jumping in as Dolls sped out after them.

“You know what’s strange?” Dolls asked conversationally, sounding extremely calm for how fast he was driving. “It’s usually you and Wynonna who pull this kind of impulsive stunt, not Haught.”

Waverly shot him a weak smile. “She, uh – it’s been building up for a while. Also, I think I resent that implication? What do you mean, me and Wynonna making bad decisions? I make great decisions.”

Dolls raised an eyebrow at her. “Waverly, I’ve seen you try and fight a bar full of revenants, alone and unarmed, just because they pissed you off.”

Waverly crossed her arms and sank back into the seat, grumbling as Dolls turned sharply into the parking lot of Shorty’s.

Spotting Nicole and Wynonna, Waverly jumped out of the car before Dolls pulled to a complete stop, running to get in front of the angry redhead before she reached Champ, leaning against his truck and drinking with some of his friends.

“Whoa, let’s take a breath here. I think marching up and assaulting somebody in broad daylight probably isn’t the best idea.” Waverly held her hands out, watching the conflicting emotions flash across Nicole’s face as she stopped, a couple feet away from Champ.

“Well, look who it is!” Champ yelled boisterously, staggering towards them, and Waverly gritted her teeth.

“Shut _up_ , Champ.”

Nicole glared at him again, but she didn’t make any move to advance. Her hands, always so gentle, were resting on Waverly’s shoulders, and Waverly nudged her to turn around, pulling her back towards where Wynonna and Dolls were watching the scene unfold.

“Yeah that’s right, _Officer_ , little bitch wants you to run.”

Waverly suddenly felt her pulse roaring in her ears, but before she could react, Nicole had already spun back around.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Nicole knew that on the scale of threats she’d faced since coming to Purgatory and being brought into Black Badge, Champ Hardy and his gang of bigoted idiots were extremely low, especially compared to the literal demon hellspawn they were waging war with.

That absolutely did not mean Nicole wasn’t satisfied when she whirled around and punched him in the face.

 


End file.
